Fireflies
by Sick42
Summary: Iteration's Watcher says goodbye to the world- and the one she spent so long trying to save. A standalone fic for now, but may later be incorporated into Iteration itself.


Fireflies:

A standalone fic in the same vein Iteration is planned for.

Disclaimer: Invader Zim and Todd Casil from JtHM and Squee are not mine, as nor is Beetlejuice- just the way I messed with realities to bring them together. Enjoy, snacks! (The Watcher is the only character that could be attributed to me...)

Not a song fic, but I wrote this while listening to Owl City's 'Fireflies'. Good song, even if what came from it was slightly depressing…

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It was late, nearing twilight, the long dried grasses of the huge, open field rustling, dancing in every barest laugh of the summer wind. From where the Watcher stood under the solitary tree, a giant oak, every once in a while she could see the two young boys playing, hear them laughing…

_Todd, Dib_, she thought absently. Just to give them an identity; they only existed within her, now, after all, this was merely a temporary fixture. A dream she was still loathe to give up on.

It all seemed so easy- _and it wasn't even really what you wanted, was it?_ No, that wasn't right, he had always wanted this, this one world. One life, one chance.

_And I hurt him… Over and over…_ The Watcher closed her eyes, _I don't want to cry, not now._ Of all human expressions, tears seemed at once the most useless, the most telling. I don't want to cry… Not when she could, after all. Three thousand years and she apparently still hadn't learned what that bastard had put her in fucking purgatory to learn…

She sighed, breathing out her nose and fighting the tears that threatened to reduce her to nothing. She both hated and loved that about humans, their ability to so honestly profess their feelings. _I lived alongside you all these years, felt your pains, joys, and yes, growing insanity. I… just wanted to help you. Help us both._

He looked so young here, but then Dib had always been rather short and skinny for his age, and until his teens, Todd had never been much better. The Watcher reflected fondly at this for a moment: for better or worse, they were never alone, at least. Catching a glimpse of the younger one, Todd, she thought for a moment, and finally put either boy at about ten or eleven. In every universe, they had had each other- no matter what happened, one of the universal principles of this case was that Dib had stood by Todd until he couldn't anymore, and vice versa, and despite being distant cousins, the two were already closer than brothers. That was part of what made it so difficult to believe what the older one would become- a Waste Lock, a necessary evil as Pepito had kindly reminded her.

I wanted to save you. To give you more of these easy nights, full of those who cared about you and fireflies.

Said fireflies flickered in the growing darkness, the sunset a brilliant, blood-colored splash in deepening blue as it crossed over into the night. _Every iteration was the right one_, she thought, silently watching as she had for years, listening for Barbara's voice to call for the both of them. It used to drive her nuts, just to watch, but eerily, now she took a kind of comfort in it. _Just not for us._

Having seen this so many times, the Watcher knew Barbara, the boys' aunt, would call for them- and sure enough, this world's Barbara did not disappoint. Ringing the porch's bell somehow the Watcher knew meant both an end for this night's fun and the final moments of this world's memory, a reminder she could not stay this time, no matter how much it killed her. The Watcher turned away from the two as they laughed, heading back towards the house beyond the fenceline.

As soon as they got close enough to the hill with the tree and depressed Watcher, something caught her attention, the world already fading at the edges. Oblivious, Dib had apparently caught something, and Todd was pestering him to show him what it was. An unexpected, if minute variance, but this didn't bother the Watcher, as many of the iterations had such events.

"Okay, okay, but don't hurt it, alright?," she heard him hiss in warning, uncupping his hands. A tiny light flickered out, illuminating the boys' faces as it flew up and made a bee-line to touch Todd's nose. Sputtering, he fell back onto his backside, enduring Dib's soft laughter; apparently this world's Todd was no more fond of insects than she was. Letting out a soft giggle that surprised her, the Watcher continued to survey her two charges as Dib helped his cousin up and Todd swore to get him back, his voice laughing if not his face.

Still smiling, she watched the two break into a run back towards the house both had called home in so many universes the Watcher would never count while her reality ruthlessly stripped away the stars, the grasses, and finally the house- until one light remained, one tiny flicker that crawled on her hand. The solitary firefly of a world that no longer existed except in her mind, containing memories of a soul that had chosen life always, and had taught her to believe there were second chances, even if they didn't come from where you wanted or expected.

Smiling at the creature, the Watcher whispered her goodbye to the last piece of a world she had cared for so long.

"Goodbye, kiddo. I wish I had chosen as well as you."

You can expect the next update for 'Iteration' within a week or so.

Sick


End file.
